Tour de France - Miroir du Cyclisme captures the 1966 Grande Boucle as both itinerary and icon, charting a 4,329-kilometre, 22-stage odyssey with the assurance of a magazine that lived and breathed the spectacle of the road. Issued by Miroir du Cyclisme, the poster fuses clear, efficient cartography with the exuberance of mid-century sports culture: the route ribbons across France, cities are crisply encircled, stage distances are called out, and the margins burst with cyclists and cheering crowds. Advertising panels—Coca-Cola, Fanta—frame the action like grandstand billboards, reminding the viewer that the Tour was already part competition, part traveling fair. The result is a spirited, information-rich guide to an edition remembered for strategy, stamina, and controversy.

The itinerary reads like a condensed geography of France. From Paris, the line descends through the Loire country by Orléans and Angers, the banners of river towns signaling the early flatland jostling. Westward, the course strikes the Atlantic—Bordeaux’s vineyards and the Basque gateway of Bayonne—before bending toward the Pyrenean approaches and the racing crucible of Pau. Turning east and south, the map traces the long, sunshot arc along the Mediterranean to Montpellier, where sea breezes meet peloton tactics. Northward again, through the Beauce and Eure-et-Loir with a nod to Maintenon, the circuit tightens until it returns triumphantly to Paris. Rivers—Seine, Loire, Garonne—serve as natural waymarks, and each encircled city becomes both checkpoint and character in the unfolding drama.

Miroir du Cyclisme’s design language is unmistakable: bright, optimistic color blocks; jaunty typography; and pictorial vignettes that animate the page without obscuring data. Stage markers punctuate the route with precision, each distance a promise of the next day’s ordeal. The decorative border functions as a proscenium, within which spectators lean, flags fly, and bicycles blur into speed lines—visual shorthand for roadside France in the 1960s. Brand advertisements sit prominently yet harmoniously, evoking the postwar consumer boom that followed the Tour from village café to city boulevard. The composition balances movement and legibility, turning a complex itinerary into a single, high-spirited tableau that a viewer can read at a glance or savor in detail.

Historically, 1966 was the year of Lucien Aimar, whose measured aggression and mountain resilience secured overall victory. The map, with its chain of strategic towns, hints at the theatre in which he prevailed—often under the tactical shadow and seasoned counsel of five-time champion Jacques Anquetil, whose presence shaped rivals’ calculations as decisively as any gradient. It was also the Tour of protest: riders, bristling at new doping controls, staged a visible, headline-making stoppage that rippled through Bordeaux and other stage towns, briefly transforming racing lanes into debating floors. This poster crystallizes that fraught summer, when endurance, teamwork, and the politics of a changing sport converged on France’s roads and in the public imagination.

As publisher, Miroir du Cyclisme (an offshoot of Miroir Sprint) excelled at turning reportage into keepsake. Their posters distilled weeks of racing into a visual chronicle that spoke to aficionados and casual admirers alike—part map, part memory palace. Here, the encircled capitals and market towns, the labeled kilometers, and the animated crowds become a cultural document of 1960s France, where provincial fêtes met modern marketing and the tricolore shadowed every sprint. Beyond its immediate utility as a route guide, this piece endures as a reference for historians and collectors: a vivid snapshot of competition and commerce, of landscapes and legends, of a Tour whose story still echoes from Paris to Pau and back again.

Cities and towns on this map

• Paris (approximately 2.16 million)
• Bordeaux (approximately 252,000)
• Angers (approximately 154,000)
• Maintenon (approximately 64,000)
• Montpellier (approximately 290,000)
• Bayonne (approximately 51,000)
• Other notable towns likely include Charleville, Orléans, and Pau but population estimates may vary by current demographics.

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Clear depiction of the cycling route and stage markers.
• Prominent placement of brand advertisements (like Coca-Cola and Fanta).
• Visual illustrations of cyclist and crowds.
• Labels indicating distances for each stage.
• Major landmarks and cities encircled along the cycling route.
• Decorative border and use of typography that reflects the 1960s design aesthetics.

Historical and design context

• Cycling route poster for the 1966 Tour de France: 4,329 km over 22 stages.
• Highlights Lucien Aimar’s victory and the support from Jacques Anquetil.
• Notable rider protests against doping tests.
• Pictorial, period aesthetic typical of Miroir du Cyclisme with bright colors and stylized illustrations.
• Produced by Miroir du Cyclisme (Miroir Sprint), known for vibrant, engaging depictions of cycling events.
• Captures a crucial moment in cycling history, valuable to historians and cycling enthusiasts.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 100in (250cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.